Active Listening - Do You Hear What I Hear?
Stephen Covey’s 5 th habit in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is “Seek to Understand, Then to be Understood” Active listening is the means to that end. It’s a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding , builds trust and credibility, and interdependency between parties. Yet its one of those skills that is so frequently ignored and infrequently practiced. We think we are listening by being quiet. But true listening is much deeper and more active. Active listening focuses entirely on the person speaking. Active listening is especially helpful in times of conflict. Typically in those times both parties are seeking to win the argument and are often paying even less attention to understanding what the other is saying. With the increased emotional context at hand, conflicts can quickly spiral out of control and relationships and resolution suffer. Three Steps to Active Listening: 1. Listen for Accuracy: How many times have you be